Anthony Andreano is a Will County Divorce Lawyer with offices in downtown Joliet next to the courthouse - He is an attorney with 20 years of courtroom experience handling family law matters including uncontested and contested divorces, child support, custody and visitation disputes, alimony, property division, paternity issues, post divorce and other family law matters. Call for a consultation at (815) 954-8175 or visit us online at the link below:

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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Father’s/Parent’s Rights Championed by the Court

Father’s Parent’s Rights Championed by the Court

OK, first off I am NOT a “father
rights” attorney. I am a client’s rights attorney. And in my humble opinion any lawyer
who sells themselves to you only as a “father’s right’s attorney” is a scam
artist. These lawyers prey on unwary fathers who are in need of help and
counsel, not snake oil. Anyway, that’s for another discussion.

In a recent appellate case* a
trial court took a very bold stance when it awarded a father sole custody of a
child who had previously been living with the mother after the parties divorced.
It was a bold move because the judge gave sole custody to the father even
though he did not even request it and he even suggested that the mother get
sole custody. The reason the court took this drastic move was because the mother
had gone so far in interfering with the father’s parenting time and in
alienating the daughter from the father that the court on its own removed joint
parenting and granted sole custody to the father. Again the big part of this
case is that the father didn’t even ask for sole custody, he merely agreed with
the child’s psychologist that joint parenting was not working. Therefore he
suggested that while the court give the mother sole custody, it also give him more
parenting time with his daughter to offset the influence of the mother.

However, for this judge more
parenting time was not enough. The case was filled with attempts by the mother
to do nasty things such as:

The mother tried to get a school counselor to report the father to DCFS without justification;

The mother altered the child’s school projects to delete the father’s involvement and even went so far as to “white out” interests the child listed as sharing with her father;

The mother then asked a teacher to remove the
father’s pictures from projects both parents were to be a part of;

The mother refused to list the father as a
parent in school records;

The mother threatened to move out of state with
the child just so the father would have less time with the child;

The mother consistently tried to alienate the
children from the new stepmother;

The mother tried to get Orders of Protections
that were never granted once a full hearing was to be held; and

The mother would even take the child to see a
movie the night before the father was scheduled to take the child to that movie
during his parenting time.

The appellate court agreed with
the trial judge and said the court correctly looked at the factors used in determining
whether joint parenting should be allowed. One of the big factors in this case
are listed in the statute at 750 ILCS 602(a)(8). It states that the court must
consider the “willingness and ability of each parent to facilitate and
encourage a close and continuing relationship between the other parent and the
child.” Clearly the mother did not do that and actually worked against facilitating
and encouraging a close and continuing relationship between the father and the
daughter.

I love this case because it
really provides a cautionary tale to anyone – father or mother – that tries to
use children as pawns in a never ending battle with a spouse or former spouse.
Joint Parenting also can be the greatest of incentives for parents to be
involved in their children’s lives. But when it doesn’t work, no words on a
page are going to change an alienating parent. Sometimes in a drastic
situation, a drastic response (like here) is the best response.

Finally, it also provides a cautionary
lesson to anyone who thinks they “have it in the bag” when they go to court. Here
the mother probably thought, “What do I have to lose?” – at worse the judge
will terminate joint parenting which is what she wanted in the first place.
Well, not so – she actually lost everything. Therefore, think twice before you
leave you and your children’s lives into the hands of a judge that may not do
what EITHER party wants but what the judge wants.

In any case, kudos to the trial
judge, Jeanne Marie Reynolds**, who had the guts to make that decision.

**Final note: I don’t know this judge and have
never practiced in Cook County but a last warning: Sometimes men think men
judges are better for them and women think women judges are better for them.
Both are wrong. Everyone is different and if I had to say there is any bias in
the sexes, I sometimes find women judges are harder on women. In this case any
judge should have made this decision. The problem is that not all of them are
this brave.

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Anthony Andreano, Will County Divorce Attorney

Anthony Andreano is a Will County divorce attorney practicing in Joliet, Illinois handling all types of family law cases including custody, property division, child support, maintenance/alimony, visitation disputes, paternity and grandparent rights cases. I have been in practice for over 16 years and my cases are limited to those pending in Will County with some litigation in Grundy County. Law Office located at: 58 N Chicago Street Suite 506 Joliet, IL 60432 Phone: (815) 954-8175 Website: www.andreanoandlyons.comCommunity Involvement: I am the immediate past President of the School Board for the Troy Consolidated 30-C located in Will County - one of the fastest growing counties in Illinois. I am also on the Board of Directors for Guardian Angel Community Services, an agency that was started in 1897 by the Sisters of St. Francis of Mary Immaculate to care for orphaned, dependent and needy children. GACS has grown into a county-wide agency that champions the cause of not only foster children but disadvantaged students, their families and those suffering from the effects of sexual assault and domestic violence.